The present invention is related generally to robot systems and, more particularly, to a robot system having a new and novel robot arm.
Robot systems are well known and used in recent years in a variety of applications. For example, in inspecting the surfaces of semiconductor wafers for particles and/or defects, robot systems are used to transfer a semiconductor wafer to be tested between a cassette to a table inside an inspection chamber. The robot system is employed in order to avoid contamination or smudges. The robot system usually comprises a support assembly and a robot arm mounted on the support assembly. One type of robot arm that has been used in the past comprises a pair of elongated elements pivotally interconnected in end-to-end relationship. Although generally satisfactory in most instances, in some situations having unique space limitations, this type of robot arm has proven to be a problem.
In U.S. Pat. 4,342,515 there is disclosed an inspection apparatus for detecting unfavorable foreign matters existent on the surface of an object such as semiconductor wafer. The apparatus includes a collimated beam generator portion which projects a collimated beam towards the object to be inspected from a side thereof, and a mechanism which senses light reflected from the surface of the object, through a polarizer plate. In accordance with this invention, the signal-to-noise ratio between a detection signal generated by a pattern of the foreign matter to-be-detected and a signal generated by a normal pattern of the object surface and sensed as a noise component can be enhanced.
In the apparatus disclosed in this patent, the semiconductor wafers are moved by a wafer feed portion.
In U.S. Pat. 4,461,567 there is disclosed an apparatus for printing patterns on a wafer in which the wafers are moved between a magazine and prepositioning stations by a manipulator.
In European Patent Application number 90401210.1, publication number 0398781 there is disclosed an inspection system for inspecting the surfaces of wafers, LCDs and film substrates for flaws. The system includes scanning laser inspection system for quickly inspecting the surface and identifying and locating the flaws. The system generates and displays a flaw map graphically illustrating the article surface and the respective locations of the flaws for subsequent optical inspection. The operator selects a flaw and an optical inspection system is positioned over the selected flaw to provide a magnified image of the flaw. The operator may optically inspect all or any number of the flaws. The invention also includes means for spectrometically analyzing the reflected light to further identify the flaw. In the apparatus disclosed therein the wafers are moved by a robot wafer handling device.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved robot system.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved robot arm.
The foregoing and other objects as well as many advantages of the invention will appear from the description to follow. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which forms a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments for practicing the invention. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limited sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.